1-1 AN ACT
1-2 relating to benefits for certain disabled peace officers.
1-3 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-4 SECTION 1. This Act shall be known as the Bill Biles Law.
1-5 SECTION 2. Subchapter B, Chapter 56, Code of Criminal
1-6 Procedure, is amended by adding Article 56.542 to read as follows:
1-7 Art. 56.542. PAYMENTS FOR CERTAIN DISABLED PEACE OFFICERS.
1-8 (a) In this article, "peace officer":
1-9 (1) means an individual elected, appointed, or
1-10 employed to serve as a peace officer for a governmental entity
1-11 under Article 2.12 or other law; and
1-12 (2) includes a former peace officer who because of an
1-13 injury suffered while performing duties as a peace officer is
1-14 entitled to receive payments under this article.
1-15 (b) If a peace officer employed by the state or a local
1-16 governmental entity in this state sustains an injury as a result of
1-17 criminally injurious conduct on or after September 1, 1989, in the
1-18 performance of the officer's duties as a peace officer and presents
1-19 evidence satisfactory to the attorney general that the officer's
1-20 condition is a total disability resulting in permanent incapacity
1-21 for work and that the total disability has persisted for more than
1-22 12 months, the officer is entitled to an annual payment equal to
1-23 the difference between:
1-24 (1) any amounts received by the officer on account of
1-25 the injury or disability from other sources of income, including
2-1 settlements related to the injury or disability, insurance
2-2 benefits, federal disability benefits, workers' compensation
2-3 benefits, and benefits from another governmental entity, if those
2-4 amounts do not exceed the amount described by Subdivision (2); and
2-5 (2) an amount equal to the officer's average annual
2-6 salary during the officer's final three years as a peace officer.
2-7 (c) The amount of the payment under Subsection (b) is
2-8 subject to an annual cost-of-living adjustment computed by the
2-9 attorney general. The attorney general shall compute the amount of
2-10 the cost-of-living adjustment by multiplying the amount of the
2-11 annual payment received by the peace officer under this section
2-12 during the previous year times the percentage by which the Consumer
2-13 Price Index for All Urban Consumers published by the Bureau of
2-14 Labor Statistics of the United States Department of Labor, or its
2-15 successor index, increased during the previous calendar year.
2-16 (d) The attorney general shall compute the amount of an
2-17 initial payment based on an injury suffered after September 1,
2-18 1989, by:
2-19 (1) computing the amount to which the officer is
2-20 entitled under Subsection (b); and
2-21 (2) adding to that amount the cumulative successive
2-22 cost-of-living adjustments for the intervening years computed from
2-23 the date of the injury.
2-24 (e) To receive a payment under this section, a peace officer
2-25 must furnish to the attorney general:
2-26 (1) proof that the injury was sustained in the
3-1 performance of the applicant's duties as a peace officer and is a
3-2 total disability resulting in permanent incapacity for work; and
3-3 (2) other information or evidence the attorney general
3-4 requires.
3-5 (f) The attorney general may approve the application without
3-6 a hearing or may conduct a hearing under Article 56.40. The
3-7 decision of the attorney general is subject to judicial review
3-8 under Article 56.48.
3-9 (g) The attorney general may appoint a panel of physicians
3-10 to periodically review each application for assistance under this
3-11 article to ensure the validity of the application and the necessity
3-12 of continued assistance to the peace officer.
3-13 (h) The attorney general shall notify the comptroller of the
3-14 attorney general's determination that a claim under this section is
3-15 valid and justifies payment. On receipt of the notice, the
3-16 comptroller shall issue a warrant to or in behalf of the claimant
3-17 in the proper amount from amounts in the compensation to victims of
3-18 crime fund. A payment under this section to or in behalf of a
3-19 peace officer is payable as soon as possible after the attorney
3-20 general notifies the comptroller.
3-21 (i) The attorney general and the comptroller by rule shall
3-22 adopt a memorandum of understanding to establish procedures under
3-23 which annual payments continue to a peace officer until continued
3-24 assistance is no longer necessary.
3-25 (j) Article 56.37 does not apply to the filing of an
3-26 application under this article. Other provisions of this chapter
4-1 apply to this article to the extent applicable and consistent with
4-2 this article.
4-3 (k) The limits on compensation imposed by Article 56.42 do
4-4 not apply to payments made under this article, but the total
4-5 aggregate amount of all annual payments made to an individual peace
4-6 officer under this section may not exceed $200,000.
4-7 SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 2001.
_______________________________ _______________________________
President of the Senate Speaker of the House
I hereby certify that S.B. No. 850 passed the Senate on
April 23, 2001, by a viva-voce vote.
_______________________________
Secretary of the Senate
I hereby certify that S.B. No. 850 passed the House on
May 16, 2001, by a non-record vote.
_______________________________
Chief Clerk of the House
Approved:
_______________________________
Date
_______________________________
Governor